We are pleased to announce the selection of Rockport students Morgan Reilly and Isabella Scherbarth as the winners of the 2023 AVP Theatrical Arts Scholarship.
Recent successful fundraising efforts allowed the AVP to offer the maximum award of $1000 to each of this year’s recipients.
Part of the AVP’s mission is to expose young people to the theater arts and cultivate a wider appreciation for music, dance, and community involvement.
To support and encourage our young performers, the AVP awards a scholarship each year to students who have demonstrated a commitment to developing their artistic talent in acting, voice, dance or in theater production, and have participated in AVP productions in the past. The scholarship funds can be applied to any artistic development, such as classes or private instruction in theater arts, or tuition to a school or camp program offering such instruction.
Morgan Reilly, 18, has performed in more than 25 productions, including every play at Rockport Public Schools since she was in fifth grade, as well as AVP productions “Beauty & The Beast” (2016), “Singin’ In The Rain” (2017), “Little Mermaid (2018),” “Mamma Mia! (2019), “Nothing To Hyde” (2021), “Mary Poppins” (2022), and this year’s historic production of “Gloucester Story,” where she shared the lead role of Deborah Wharton. Morgan counts her roles on the AVP stage as Ally in “Mamma Mia!,” and Deborah Wharton in “Gloucester Story,” among her favorites. In 2023, as a senior at Rockport High School, she won the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild (METG) Drama Fest Outstanding Performance Award in the preliminary and final rounds for her role as Shauna in “Beverly Billingsly Takes a Bow.” Morgan is currently a freshman at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass.
Isabella Scherbarth, 13, has been an active participant in the local arts while attending Rockport Elementary School, the Devereaux School and Waring School along with the summer and winter arts camps. She is a piano student and is a lead soloist in the Rockport Congregational Church Youth Choir under the direction of Kristina Martin. Now of mentoring age herself, she recently completed a week-long choral/arts program, Cape Ann Arts Alive, in which she collaborated with adult instructors and five other teen mentors – performing/directing/managing 22 children, age 6-12. Isabella made her AVP debut playing a fish in “Little Mermaid” (2018) and went on to play Valentine in last year’s production of “Mary Poppins.” She is currently an eighth grader at the Waring School in Beverly, Mass.
“It warms our hearts to announce Morgan and Isabella as this year’s winners of our annual youth arts scholarship,” said Victoria Fortune, chairperson of the AVP Scholarship Committee. “We’ve watched them both grow up on our stage through the years and develop into two very talented and solid individuals. They are passionate about the arts and always seem to enjoy what they do, no matter what is thrown their way.”
The AVP is a not-for-profit organization run by volunteers and is always welcoming new members of all ages and backgrounds. AVP membership includes full-time and summer residents from the greater Cape Ann area, local youth, as well as individuals with professional associations with theatre and music.